We have seen that God promised the Redeemer during four thousand years.  Now, those who believed these promises and kept all God’s Commandments, and observed all His laws as they knew them, could be saved.  They could not, it is true, enter into Heaven after their death, but they could wait in Limbo without suffering till Our Lord opened Heaven for them.  They were saved only through the merits of Our Lord.  And how could this be when Our Lord was not yet born?  Do you know what a promissory note is?  It is this.  When a man is not able to pay his debts just now but will be able afterwards, he gives those to whom he owes the money a promissory note, that is, a written promise that he will pay at a certain time.  Now, those who died before Our Lord was born had the Holy Scripture promising that Christ would pay for them and for their sins when He would come.  So God saved them on account of this promise and kept them free from suffering till Our Lord came.  If any died when they were little infants, their parents answered for them as godfathers and godmothers do now for infants at Baptism.

74 Q. On what day was the Son of God conceived and made man?  A. The Son of God was conceived and made man on Annunciation Day—­the day on which the Angel Gabriel announced to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she was to be the Mother of God.

“Annunciation Day” is the 25th of March.  You can easily remember that feast.  Everybody knows that St. Patrick’s Day is on the 17th of March, and therefore eight days after it comes Annunciation day.  There is another feast coming in between them, the feast of St. Joseph, on the 19th of March.  Therefore it is easy to remember these three feasts coming all in March and almost together.  Annunciation is the name given to that day after the angel came, but it was not called so before.  Annunciation means to tell or make known, and this is the day the angel made known to the Blessed Virgin that she was selected for the high office of Mother of God.  The Blessed Virgin was expecting the Messias, and was probably praying for His speedy arrival, as were the rest of her people, when suddenly the angel came and said:  Hail, full of grace. (See Hail Mary Expl.).

75 Q. On what day was Christ born?  A. Christ was born on Christmas Day in a stable at Bethlehem, over nineteen hundred years ago.

“Christmas Day” is the 25th of December, one week before the New Year.  It is called Christmas Day since the time Our Lord was born, over nineteen hundred years ago.  “In a stable at Bethlehem.”  The story of Our Lord’s birth is in every way a very sad one.  The Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph lived in Palestine—­called also the Holy Land since Our Lord lived there.  Palestine was the country where God’s people, the Jews, lived, and at the time we are speaking of, it was under the power of the Roman Emperor, who had his soldiers and governor there.  He wished to find out how many people were there, and so he ordered a census or count